Trees, and why they are so awesome
Hello lovely people,
I trust you are doing well on this sunny autumnal Friday morning! We’re close to tipping over into full winter in the UK.
As I write, I am looking out of my window at one of the trees that stands proudly on the other side of the street from my house. Now, I love all trees, but this one is particularly dear to me; I see it every day, and I love watching it change with the seasons.
Right now, he’s embracing the move into winter and shedding the last of his red and yellow autumn colours, but give it a couple of months and he’ll be blossoming away once again to herald the start of spring. It’s just such a joy to watch nature do her thing.
So, in honour of my arboreal friend looking right at me through the window, here’s this week’s tree-focused Friday Feels!
1. Song of the week
Nature by East Forest, featuring Ram Dass (Spotify and YouTube)
I am holding a mindful tree walk this week in Manchester this weekend (more on which below!), so this song seemed particularly fitting.
Perhaps sit quietly and watch a tree – taking time to really see that tree, or, even better, hug it! – as you listen to Ram Dass’s words…
“Trees
Grasses
Water
Sun
Stars
Moon
Clouds
Rain
All are our friends
Are us
Nature embraces us
And we embrace nature
We are nature
We are the trees and the clouds and the waters
When you hug a tree you’re hugging yourself” 🤗
2. Quote of the week
“A tree is our most intimate contact with nature.” – George Nakashima
I’ve long been a self-confessed tree hugger! But during the UK lockdowns, I really deepened my appreciation for the trees in my local park. We have a symbiotic relationship with trees – we breathe in what they breathe out, and trees breathe in what we breathe out! An intimate connection indeed.
I’m hosting a free mindful tree walk with Platt Hall in Platt Fields Park, South Manchester on Sunday 21st November at 12-1pm. You’d be so welcome to join me! We can connect to nature and each other.
To book your place, simply reply to this email saying you’d like to join so I can add you to the list 😀
3. Practice of the week
Daily journaling prompts! I’ve been asking myself and my coaching these questions recently:
How are you showing up for yourself today? What would it be like to fully show up in your life? To be fully present to the people around you? To fully complete a task to the best of your ability? To fully show up in your business and for your clients? To fully show up for your partner, family and friends?
I’m currently using this journaling prompt to invite me to connect to this idea each day: “what would it look like to fully show up for myself today?” 🤔
Give it a whirl – what comes up for you? How can you take action on those insights?
We can grow up by showing up. And by showing up, we grow up.
I share more about this journalling prompt here on Instagram – a post to save maybe!
4. Article of the week
How trees talk to each other by Suzanne Simmard/TED.
“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. She’s not wrong! Researchers have discovered that trees communicate, socialise and live in harmony with the forest around them, via interconnected biological pathways beneath the forest floor. So, scientists have literally seen the wood for the trees… (I’ll get my coat…!)
I find this hidden world infinitely fascinating. Which is probably why I spend so much time in the park next to my house, trying to glean the trees’ secrets(!) and taking in the precious, life-giving oxygen they so generously give out to us all. If this sounds like you as well, then I think my mindful tree walk this coming Sunday will definitely be a bit of you too. Drop me a reply to this email to book a spot!
5. Client win of the week
“I am still pinching myself – I visualised this all happening back in February!” My client’s eyes were wide with excitement, her body wiggling on her chair with enthusiasm as she shared this with me.
When you take MASSIVE ACTION towards your goals, you can’t help but see shifts happen quickly in your life. A client is hungrily pursuing her goals, building her own wellbeing business. She’d been visualising these changes, willing them to happen. And now it’s unfolding! At record speed.
We’re working together to build the foundations of her business online, whilst simultaneously developing her mindset as an entrepreneur. She’s gearing up to leave her corporate 9-5 job to follow her passion. I believe your business gets to be the safe container for your own personal expansion and growth. By working on your business, you’re automatically working on yourself as well. Levelling up!
And this spiritual female entrepreneur is smashing it out the park, hosting her first event and getting all her business foundations in place in record time. I can feel her excitement and it’s infectious. Best of all? Huge shifts and growth don’t have to take a long time. Your life can change very fast when you know how.
What about you? Do you feel like your goals can manifest quickly?
It’s all to play for! And I believe in you 💪
That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading. I appreciate you.
Big love!
Briony x
P.S. What is this Friday Feels email about? In case you’re reading this for the first time (hello!), I share a weekly email with snippets from my world of coaching, meditation and breathwork. My intention is to share useful, joyful or interesting tidbits, which may serve you in some way 🙏
